Well, we headed northward in our trek across New Mexico this week, and winter weather was there to meet us. We knew it would happen sometime, and the gloves, hats and jackets are now out in full force.

Luckily, the town of Santa Fe, New Mexico was a friendly one and easy to get around. We based our operations out of the Courtyard Marriot, a dog-friendly establishment with apartment style accommodations. And we were happy to have decent workout accommodations, as temperatures and the wind chill for running outside approached our cutoff of 0 degrees Fahrenheit! Yes, our old cutoff was -20 deg F, but we’re hardly carrying the gear to run in that now. And it’s also worth noting that our vehicle isn’t winterized for below zero operations.

The historic downtown train depot.

Our first mission of exploration was the train park in downtown Santa Fe. A dog-friendly romp, the park features filled-in tracks laid in parallel to make an interesting set of paths through the center of town.

Santa Fe also has a rockin’ restaurant scene as well, from the outstanding Thai Vegan, to the Caffe Greco and Café Fina located in the northern foothills of town… and don’t miss the alien burger at Second Street Brewery: it’s a green pepper, bacon avocado burger that’s out of this world!

Mmmmm… alien burger…

We also made a brief afternoon journey to nearby Los Alamos and the Bradbury Science Museum. IQ averages and PhDs per capita rise sharply in these parts, and my vision of Los Alamos has always been something akin to the SyFy series Eureka, and town of the same name. The Bradbury is great place to trace the history of the Manhattan Project and the birth of the Nuclear Age. And, curiously enough, we seem to be on what we would term the “Tourist Nuke Trail” of the southern U.S., as historical sites and fascinating museums from the Atomic Era abound.

A antique “U-glass” artifact seen at the Bradbury Museum.

Back in town, don’t forget to check out Georgia O’Keeffe museum for an incredible look at the Salvador Dali of our generation.

We also had a great visit with our friend Michael Zeiler of Eclipse-maps fame. We plotted world domination as we approach the T-minus one thousand day mark from the 2017 total solar eclipse this month. Check out his gear, swag and all things eclipse-related over at the GreatAmericanEclipse.com.

The lunch counter at Cafe Fino.

From Santa Fe, it was an icy crossing to Amarillo, Texas as an early snow storm blanketed the region. I know that folks up north often wonder how a few inches of the white stuff can paralyze a city down south, and here’s how: most places fail to prep for major storms down south, as they’re fairly rare. This means less sanding of roads and snowplowing. Couple all that with drivers who have never crossed icy roads, and it’s literally a perfect storm. Still, old up north driving reflexes prevailed, and we arrived (or slid) in Amarillo safe and sound and ready for adventure as we now strike out eastward.

Astro Documentaries

Pictured is a Delta IV rocket launch from Cape Canaveral on November 21st, 2010. The image is a 20 second exposure taken at dusk, shot from about 100 miles west of the launch site. The launch placed a classified payload in orbit for the United States Air Force.

DIY Astronomy

Difficult but not impossible to catch against the dawn or dusk sky, spotting an extreme crescent moon can be a challenge. The slender crescent pictured was shot 30 minutes before sunrise when the Moon was less than 20 hours away from New. A true feat of visual athletics to catch, a good pair of binoculars or a well aimed wide field telescopic view can help with the hunt.

The Sun is our nearest star, and goes through an 11-year cycle of activity. This image was taken via a properly filtered telescope, and shows the Sun as it appeared during its last maximum peak in 2003. This was during solar cycle #23, a period during which the Sun hurled several large flares Earthward. The next solar cycle is due to peak around 2013-14.

Astronomy Gear Reviews

Located in the belt of the constellation Orion, Messier 42, also known as the Orion Nebula is one of the finest deep sky objects in the northern hemisphere sky. Just visible as a faint smudge to the naked eye on a clear dark night, the Orion Nebula is a sure star party favorite, as it shows tendrils of gas contrasted with bright stars. M42 is a large stellar nursery, a star forming region about 1,000 light years distant.

Astronomical Observing Targets

Orbiting the planet in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) every 90 minutes, many people fail to realize that you can see the International Space Station (ISS) from most of the planet on a near-weekly basis. In fact, the ISS has been known to make up to four visible passes over the same location in one night. The image pictured is from the Fourth of July, 2011 and is a 20 second exposure of a bright ISS pass.

Next to the Sun, the two brightest objects in the sky are the Moon and the planet Venus. In fact, when Venus is favorably placed next to the Moon, it might just be possible to spot the two in the daytime. Another intriguing effect known as earthshine or ashen light is also seen in the image on the night side of the Moon; this is caused by sunlight reflected back off of the Earth towards our only satellite.

A mosaic of three images taken during the total lunar eclipse of December 21st, 2010. The eclipse occurred the same day as the winter solstice. The curve and size of the Earth’s shadow is apparent in the image.